Bein' a City of London Apprentice

By Jacob Christie, Administration Assistant Apprentice at the City of London Corporation, and now, renowned blogger...

What is white, rectangular and blank all over?

The Word document I have had open for the last month, trying to work out how to start this blog… unfortunately, as you will soon probably find out, I am not blessed with a natural flair for writing, so please do bear with me.

When it all began… *edgy*

June 2017 was the month I started my City of London Corporation Apprenticeship, and also the month I started the next chapter of my work life - goodbye Kent, hello London, goodbye cows and sheep, hello Pret A Manger!

I work as a Business Admin Apprentice in the Responsible Business side of the Economic Development Office, the department responsible for making sure London and the UK remain the leading hub for financial and professional services in the world - and breathe. Being completely honest, I didn’t have the clearest of ideas of what to expect or what the department did. Yeah... this sounds quite bad I know, but that is what intrigued me to the job because financial services wasn’t a sector I had ever thought of getting involved in.

Like every new job, it does take time to get used to your new surroundings, but for the first few weeks or so, I did find getting into the swing of things extra challenging. I have only ever experienced working in a small office in my hometown, alongside five other employees, but now, here I was, in a massive office in central London surrounded by one hundred plus other people. It was a culture shock, but nonetheless, it was my foot in the door to build a career in the city, something I had always wanted to experience. One thing that surprised me was how steeped in history and tradition the Corporation is. The exterior of my workplace, Guildhall, does have architectural similarities to Hogwarts and similar traditions too (Google the Silent Ceremony). With terms like Chamberlain, Alderman, Sheriff flying about, it did take time to get my head around how all this linked to the financial sector.

What have I been up to so far?

I genuinely never thought that three months in, I would be sitting around a table in Mansion House, eating croissants and fruit brochettes with the Lord Mayor of London (no… not Sadiq Khan, which I was guilty of thinking). This was for a CEO breakfast on encouraging businesses to utilise the apprenticeship levy to employ apprentices - I was of course used as the shining example of what they are missing out on if they don’t employ an apprentice! I’ve been involved in The Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards and the Business of Trust launch event, which required me to network with senior business leaders, whom I never thought I would get to meet.

Part of the apprenticeship is to complete a Level 3 NVQ in Business Administration. For me, this is one of the many things I rate the most - not only are you learning key skills whilst in the workplace, especially at high-profile organisations like the City of London Corporation; you also complete a qualification that’s on your CV for life. Both aspects of the apprenticeship go hand-in-hand, meaning you can apply things you have learnt from the out of work learning to your day-to-day duties, but on the flipside, you can apply skills you have learnt in the workplace to your coursework.

So, the big question, how would I describe being an apprentice for the world that is the City of London Corporation?

Erm, ‘different’, would be the first word that would come to mind, but who likes normal? The unexpected medieval and traditional nature of the Corporation mixed with the modern-day buzz of the City creates a unique workplace which I thoroughly enjoy. This of course compensates for the daily luxury of spending two hours sixteen minutes on a Southeastern train and the four grand a year charge for this pleasure. Having said this, I can’t really complain - unlike most apprenticeships where the pay is rather on the low side, with the City of London Corporation, you get paid the London living wage.

Seriously, I couldn’t recommend a City of London apprenticeship enough. The prospects, the opportunities and the real-life exposure I have experienced in the last six months, as cliché as it sounds, have enhanced my employability skills and I am excited to see what 2018 brings. My aim is to get the NVQ signed off by the summer, so then I can use the final duration to focus on the next steps of my career, the events sector being something that I have particularly developed an interest in.

There you go, perhaps to your relief, the end of my first ever blog. Thank you for reading, it was emotional.

Ssqqs

The only photo of me where I am not standing up against the wall looking incredbily awkward...

Comments

You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post.

What a great blog! Thanks for sharing your experience Jacob and best of luck with the remainder of your apprenticeship.

Posted by: Claire Tunley | 03/09/2018 at 11:26 AM

This is a great account of your time in a ‘unique’ organisation, Jacob, and a great way of setting out how apprenticeships work. And you do have a flair for blogging, by the way!

Posted by: David Pack | 03/09/2018 at 03:47 PM